Newsflash!

You can suck as a writer and “make it” on Medium.

Damn. And here I thought I wouldn’t write one of these stories again, but I have to get this off my chest or I’ll implode.

I just read a story that received over 1.5k claps and was curated, to boot. To say that it was “amateurish” is a gross understatement. To say that it read like it was written by a teenager (C-student, max), doesn’t adequately describe how bad this piece of caca is.

Adding insult to serious injury, there was a ton of typos. Now, I’m not a freak about little mistakes, but when shit-on-shit is curated, I have to start wondering what the hell is going on.

Now, I realize that I have the proverbial ax to grind as I haven’t been curated for months. I couldn’t tell you why as I seem to receive decent reads, claps, fans, ad nauseam, but there it is. Is it personal? Maybe. Why? Because I don’t pander. I don’t kiss ass and I don’t pretend to like crap in order to win friends.

That’s just how it is, folks. I’m in my sixties, now. I don’t have a job with an asshole of a boss that I have to kowtow for. And, since I could be infected tomorrow, life is far too short for bullshit.

But I know I’m not alone. Many of my friends here like Stephen Sovie, P.G. Barnett and a host of others never get their due, because they, like me, refuse to settle for less than their best.

So why did an embarrassingly-bad story like this get curated?

Curators, are you there? Can you ‘splain?

To be fair, I checked out other stories by this writer and my conclusion was: He stinks. He stinks like that rotten onion on the bottom of your vegetable crisper that you thought you threw out.

There must be a plethora of dopes reading stories here. How else could one explain this?

This poor shmo is not alone in his suck-iness. Yet, the real stickler is when lousy writers like him crow about their curations in the Facebook groups.

Are we supposed to give a Flying F? What is the desired response?

“Good for you! You go, dude, even though you suck!”

I’m not going to say how grateful I am for this platform as I’ve done in the past as the people behind Medium need to show more gratitude toward us.

Sure, I can leave. I get that. But I’m far too stubborn and find myself with quite a bit of time on my hands. Time enough to attend to stories here, as well as my other projects like my screenplays and personal blog.

I’ve also come to enjoy the “company” of many of my fellow writers. Now, more than ever. And you know who you are. Smart, kind, funny. You’re the total package. Yet you’re virtually ignored, as well.

To be brutally honest, I would like to see more writers speak up here as Stephen and I do. Maybe the tide would turn. But probably not because, as it is in the corporate arena, the (sour) cream always rises to the top.

Also, and I’m not ashamed to admit this, but it stings my crusty little heart when I’ve put my heart and soul into a story…when I’ve literally bled onto the page, and it’s not deemed “good enough” to be recognized by the curators.

I question their acumen, frankly.

A few weeks ago, I emailed “[email protected]” to ask the reason for my lack of curation. Their heartfelt response was to send me a link to their curation guidelines.

Perhaps it is they who need to take another look at them because if the dung they’re currently showing appreciation for is an example…well then, their “guidelines” are worth about two bucks, which is probably more than I’ve made on a story in months.

I’m going to do my best to calm down, now as there is enough horrendous shit going on in the world without my letting Medium take me down. And soon, our “Killer-In-Chief” will be “briefing” us on the latest news on the pandemic. Who would want to miss that?

Thank you for reading. And to all the new writers on this platform: This is the only “how to make it on Medium” story you’ll ever need to read.

You can thank me later.

If you enjoyed this, you might like to check out my pub, Rogues’ Gallery and also The Militant, which I co-edit with Stephen Sovie.

Also, if you’re seeking further distractions during this tough time, please consider subscribing to my new newsletter, where I’ll do my damndest to deliver content that’s relevant and entertaining.